


I'm Gonna Steal the Marauders Map

by The_Dream_Team



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabbles, Gen, One Shot, The Marauders - Freeform, Tumblr Prompt, collection, national treasure - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-18 22:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29616456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Dream_Team/pseuds/The_Dream_Team
Summary: A collection of one-shots about the Marauders based on a National Treasure inspired prompts list on tumblr
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 36
Kudos: 30
Collections: James and Lily Fanfics





	1. Is There a Door that Doesn't Lead to Prison?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Nina, @nah-she-didnt, for this prompt!

“Just a little higher,” whispered Sirius, his words echoing around the empty Great Hall. “Try to get it above this cloud cover so we’re a bit closer to the sun when it rises.”

“Oh sure, no problem,” said Lily, her brows knit in concentration, “it’s not like I’m trying to charm the most advanced bit of magic in the entire castle. If you think it’s so easy, Black, why don’t you hop up here and help me out?”

“No, no, you’re doing a bang-up job, Evans,” Sirius laughed as he took some time to appreciate the moment.

Standing on her tip-toes on top of the staff’s dining table, Lily extended her arm upward, wand pointed directly at the Enchanted Ceiling. A few sparks flew up as she muttered another incantation, and to Sirius’ delight, the bewitched sky adjusted its position, passing above the layer of clouds and exposing a dazzling early morning horizon. Lily whipped around to meet Sirius with wide eyes and a thrilled grin, which he gladly returned with a whoop of celebration.

He jumped up to meet Lily on the table and wrapped her in a tight hug, amazed that she had just pulled off the most complicated bit of charming he had ever witnessed. She squeezed him back and it suddenly dawned on Sirius that this was the first time he had ever hugged Lily Evans. He let it last a little longer than he normally would.

Sirius and Lily had, to put it lightly, never gotten along.

She had always been the type of girl who could see through bullshit, and Sirius and his friends had been expert bullshitters basically their entire school careers. It had been a bloody miracle that she finally warmed up to James after all those years of his desperate pining. Sirius couldn’t be happier for the two of them, but despite Lily spending more time with the Marauders, he hadn’t been able to break through their old bickering habits. There was still a level of animosity between them, built up from years of Sirius wreaking havoc around the castle and Lily usually being the one stopping the havoc from being wreaked.

So, no one was more surprised than Sirius when Lily approached him in the Gryffindor Common room one evening and casually mentioned her interest in pulling a prank together. He agreed immediately, of course. Lily Evans? Wanting to pull a prank with Sirius Black? As if he could ever pass up that opportunity.

He spent the following week planning, taking Lily’s particular talents into account. It had always infuriated him that she received higher marks in Charms than he did, but now he could use that to their advantage. There was also her exasperating kindness to take into account. This prank felt like his best chance to get in her good graces, and Sirius really wanted to impress her with his idea, so hexing Slytherins or tricking first years were off-limits.

And that’s how Sirius and Lily eventually found themselves hugging on top of the dining table that morning, the first part of their ambitious prank a resounding success. The orange and pink hues of an early dawn sky now expanded in the heavens above them, casting a magnificent glow onto the Great Hall.

“I can’t believe that worked!” said Lily, her eyes flashing with a mischievous gleam he had never seen from her before.

“Of course it worked, you’re brilliant,” he said, quickly reaching out a hand to help her down from the table. They still had plenty of work to do before breakfast began.

Lily beamed as she hurried across the great hall, getting into position. Sirius couldn’t help but smile, himself, as he crossed over to the opposite side of the room, giddy from the adrenalin rush of pulling a good prank with Lily Evans, of all people. Once they were both in place, he waved his arms above his head, signaling the start of the second phase of their plot.

Together, they raised their wands and cast multiple well-practiced Atmospheric Charms. In no time, the ground became covered with a blanket of white, puffy clouds, wonderfully billowing in every direction around the room. The dining tables peaked out from the wispy fog, creating the illusion that they might be floating hundreds of miles above the earth.

Sirius rushed back to the staff’s table, where he had left a cage of patiently hooting birds he’d nicked from the owlery that morning. “Now’s your time to shine,” he told them as he opened the latch, letting the owls take off flying around the hall.

Lily made her way back to his side to marvel at their handiwork. “Avis,” she said clearly as a flock of birds burst from the tip of her wand, joining the other owls in flight.

Sirius reached into his pocket and found James’ stolen snitch. “And now for the final touch,” he grinned, letting the snitch free into the false skyscape they had so lovingly created. It wasn’t so much a prank they had pulled off, but instead a work of art.

“Breakfast is about to start,” said Lily, checking her watch. “How do we get out of here without anyone seeing us?”

“Oh, Evans,” chuckled Sirius, “we aren’t getting away with this.”

Lily looked alarmed. “What do you mean? We tampered with ancient castle magic… we can’t get caught, we’ll get in trouble!”

“I mean, students are already making their way in for breakfast,” he said, pointing at the group of Hufflepuffs entering the Great Hall with shocked expressions at their enchanted surroundings, “so just enjoy the praise and admiration from our peers now! It’ll be something for us to remember fondly while we’re in detention.”

“Detention?!” Lily nearly shouted. “I can’t get detention, I’m Head Girl!”  
“Who knows if a detention is even a worthy punishment for such a heinous crime,” said Sirius, gesturing at their classmates’ delighted faces as they sat amongst the clouds and marveled at the beautiful sky. “Professor Dumbledore might send us straight to Azkaban!”

Lily’s mouth twitched into a smirk and she rolled her eyes, giving him a playful shove. “Is there a door that doesn’t lead to prison?”

“Evans, you’re the one who wanted to pull a prank in the first place. Of course, it was going to end in detention. The best pranks always do!”

“But James didn’t say anything about getting detention!”

“James?” asked Sirius, just as he spotted McGonagall making her way through the entrance of the Great Hall. “What’s James got to do with any of this?” Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. “He put you up to this, didn’t he?” Sirius turned to Lily, slightly heartbroken. She wore a regretful grimace.

“No, Sirius,” she sputtered, “it’s not like that, James just thought we could use some bonding time- I wanted to-”

“Mr. Black, Miss. Evans?” came the cool voice of Professor McGonagall behind them. “I can assume you were behind this? Mr. Black, I’m not surprised by, but Miss. Evans, this seems unlike you.”

“No, Professor,” said Sirius, glancing at Lily’s panicked face, “it was all my fault, Evans here was just trying to stop me.” He looked down at his feet, his heart sinking at what he thought might have finally been the start of a friendship with Lily.

“In that case, Mr. Black, I think a week’s worth of detentions would-” started McGonagall, but she was cut off by Lily’s counterspell.

With a gust of wind, the birds Lily conjured earlier were sucked back into her wand, leaving McGonagall’s browsed raised.

“I see, Miss Evans,” continued their Professor, a twinkle in her eye. “I guess you’ll be joining Mr. Black in detention, then.” Lily nodded and glanced at Sirius, a smile on her face. “And an extra five points to Gryffindor for exhibiting such impressive technique, for the both of you,” added McGonagall, a hint of a smirk on her lips as she turned to make her way to her seat at the staff’s table.

“You know,” said Lily as she hooked her arm into Sirius’ to lead him back to the Gryffindor table, “I don’t think I’ll mind having detention with you, but let’s avoid Azkaban for the time being.”

Amazed, he let out a proper laugh, and with that, they made their way to their seats among the clouds, ready for a delicious breakfast surrounded by their own little slice of heaven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to send me (National Treasure-themed) prompts on tumblr, you can find me @the-dream-team :)


	2. I Wanna Reassure You, You are Not in Danger in Any Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of sixth year jily feelings at Slughorn's Christmas party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to @startanewdream for sending me this prompt off the National Treasure list! 
> 
> I am having too much fun with these.

Lily should have brought a date to the Slug Club Christmas party. 

But she hadn’t anticipated Marlene spending the night in the Hospital Wing after a group of Slytherins decided it would be funny to vanish half the bones in her feet. So now Marlene was busy downing Skelagrow while Lily downed a butterbeer, watching those same Slytherins enjoy the party from her own lonely corner. She twisted her face in a permanent scowl and passed the time dreaming up new creative ways she could dock points from the Slytherin house in the upcoming weeks.

She got her chance sooner than expected when two fifth year snakes tried pouring a mysterious liquid from an ornate flask into the punch bowl.

“Don’t even think about it,” she told the boys, utilizing her practiced Prefect voice. “Hand over the flask and I’ll let Professor Slughorn know you both  _ regrettably _ had to leave the party early.” The taller of the two tried to protest, but she cut him off quickly. “Five points from Slytherin. You both are lucky to be getting away without detentions.”

As the boys slunk away, Lily rewarded herself with another butterbeer and found a column to lean against as the party commenced.

Her eyes landed, as they had multiple times already that night, on Bradley Walker, the Ravenclaw seventh year she had dated the year before.  _ He _ had brought a date- Jessica Smith, the Hufflepuff Seeker who looked absolutely stunning in a flowing golden gown. Lily smoothed her own simple jumper dress and adjusted her turtleneck, feeling out of place wearing Muggle-styled clothes in a room full of purebloods. She watched Bradley extend an arm to Jessica as they made their way to the dancefloor, joining in on the waltzing that came so effortlessly to the children of  _ well-bred _ wizarding families. 

Lily should have brought a date. If for no other reason than to have some visual proof to show Bradley that she too had moved on and was doing splendidly since their breakup.

Then, just when she thought she couldn’t feel any worse, she caught the eye of Severus Snape across the room, and her heart clenched unpleasantly at the sight of her former friend. They hadn’t spoken since last May after the incident at the lake, but he had already tried cornering her into talking multiple times that year, and based on the intense look in his eye, it seemed he was about to try again. 

Lily glanced around the room, looking for any escape from Severus’ confrontation as he pushed his way through the dancing couples to get closer to her. She was about to lose all hope when someone grabbed her hand from behind and spun her around in a surprisingly graceful movement.

“May I have this dance, Evans?” 

Lily looked up at her savior and was met by James Potter’s impossibly crooked grin. Her breath caught in her throat as he pulled her closer, spinning them both onto the dance floor as if he’d already received an answer. 

“It looks like you’ve made my decision for me, Potter,” she replied, and he let out a hearty laugh in return. She rolled her eyes, but internally she was grateful for his timing. She would take a dance with Potter over a chat with Severus any day. Now  _ that _ was something she couldn’t imagine herself thinking a year ago. 

But James had been somewhat of a friend to her this school year, as strange as that seemed. When her cat went missing in October, he had spent an entire afternoon tracking Whiskers down in the Forbidden Forest. When his advanced Sleeping Draught overflowed the other week in Potions, Lily had stayed behind to help him clean up the mess. And now, he had swooped in and saved her from an uncomfortable conversation with Snape. 

An unconscious smile tugged at her lips and she felt a fluttering of appreciation buzz around her stomach (which might have had something to do with James’ hand landing on her waist). She looked up and met his gaze, those Hazel eyes bright and friendly behind his wire-rimmed glasses. Lily could see flecks of gold dancing around his dark pupils and her heartrate picked up as she realized this was the closest she had ever been to James Potter. She could feel his hot breath on the tip of her nose, sending a surprisingly pleasant shiver down her spine. 

“Hold on,” said Lily, a burst of logic pulling her from her sudden trance, “you’re not in the Slug Club, Potter. How’d you get in here tonight?”

He chuckled, but Lily caught his eyes shift for a moment. “I have my ways,” he said, squeezing her hand and guiding her across the dance floor with effortless elegance. 

She almost let his non-answer slide as her thoughts drifted to how unfamiliar it felt to have James’ arms around her, his face so near her own she could see the flutter of his eyelashes and observe every twitch of his lips. Her senses begged her to explore the unexpected feelings that had started burning a hole in her chest, but a flash of dark brown curls dragged her attention away from all that.

“Was that Sirius?” she asked, craning her neck to get a better look over James’ shoulder. But as soon as she spoke, James pulled her in closer and quickly stepped to the side, obstructing her view.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, trying to keep his tone light, but his pounding heart told a different story. 

“And Remus and Peter, too,” Lily continued, her suspicions rising as she peeked around his arm at the other Gryffindor boys scurrying around the edge of the dancefloor. Her Prefect instincts kicked into overdrive. “What are you all up to?”

James looked down at her and pulled her hand to his thudding chest. “I wanna reassure you, you are not in danger in any way.”

Lily blinked hard. “Well, I didn’t think I was until now!”

He glanced over his shoulder at Sirius, who sent him two thumbs up. When he turned back to Lily, eyes flashing, his lower lip caught between his teeth, she knew there was no stopping whatever the Marauders had in store for Slughorn’s Christmas party.

A sudden, loud hissing preceded the screaming as every tie worn by Slytherin students transformed into angry, living snakes. 

Panic erupted around the room as couples jumped apart in fear and fled from the flailing snakes slithering around the necks of shouting Slytherins. Lily’s jaw dropped at the commotion. She locked eyes with James, who beamed back at her, clearly pleased with the night’s outcome. Watching his joy as he reveled in the Marauder’s success, Lily felt her own wave of satisfaction thinking of Marlene stuck in the Hospital Wing. 

“Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew, and Mr. Potter!” bellowed Professor Slughorn from across the room. “Don’t move a single muscle, you are all in deep trouble, boys!”

“And that’s my cue to leave,” James said to Lily with a cheeky wink. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it lightly before shooting her a crooked grin. “It’s been a pleasure,” he whispered before turning and making a bee-line towards the exit, leaving Lily in the middle of the dancefloor, her skin tingling where his mouth had been moments before, suddenly quite glad she hadn’t brought a date to the party. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Come say hi and leave me more National Treasure prompts on tumblr @the-dream-team :) 
> 
> I already have a handful of lovely prompts to work through, but the more the merrier!


	3. Are You Trying To Steal That?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily seeks revenge on James after that day by the lake during their 5th year. Thanks to @theroomofreq for this prompt from the National Treasure Prompt List on tumblr!!

A brilliant flash of midday sunlight reflected off a tiny, polished gold ball as it flittered, much like a hummingbird would, around the heads of four bored-looking teenage boys. The Golden Snitch, twitching and buzzing around the air as if it were impervious to gravity, made a few decent escape attempts, but at the last moment, the boy with glasses and permanently windswept hair always managed to reach out and catch it before it was too late. 

Hiding behind a bush near the edge of the lake, Lily Evans watched James Potter play with the Snitch from afar. She’d been doing a lot of that recently. Watching. Observing. Taking note. 

The anger simmered in the pit of her stomach as it had been ever since that afternoon following their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. two weeks prior. A day hadn’t gone by without the plague of memories of the incident, the cruel hexes, the words that were said, the way her heart stopped beating as rage took control. 

Maybe, deep down, she always knew the day would come where Severus would show his true colors. She cursed herself for being so foolish, so trusting. For ignoring the warning signs. The anger she felt towards Snape had a sickening lurch of pain. He hadn’t just stabbed her that day, he had taken extra care to twist the knife. 

Lily didn’t want to spend time with that pain, but she did want to act on her anger. Find someone else to unload her rage onto. Someone who deserved the weight of her anguish. Someone who had a hand in Severus’ cruelty. Someone like James Potter.

She had trailed Potter and his friends for days, searching for an Achilles heel. She wanted to take something from him, the same way Severus’ friendship had been taken from her. But James was surrounded by loyalty and admiration. A big Quidditch hero, top marks in almost every subject, and disappointingly good-looking… James Potter had it all and then some. No wonder he thought so highly of himself.

Or did he?

The more time Lily spent observing James, the more she noticed his facade falter. He was outgoing, sure, but his brows knit together anxiously whenever a joke didn’t land. His eyes shifted often, always taking note of whose attention he held and whose he didn’t. He messed with his hair compulsorily, as if he might lose respect if it ever lost its disheveled nature. There was a need to please, a need to impress, written into his every public action. 

But if he ever misstepped, ever started showing the cracks in his confidence, Lily noticed that James Potter had a backup plan. In any moment of need, he had his stolen Golden Snitch and athletic talent as a crutch. No matter what happened, he could always pull out the Snitch and remind everyone that he was a Quidditch star, worthy of their love and attention. 

Lily wanted to steal his confidence. She wanted to steal his Golden Snitch. She needed the cracks in Potter’s persona to be revealed and made deeper, so everyone else could see him the way she did, as an arrogant, bullying, toerag. 

So, when James charmed his Snitch and left it dormant on top of a pile of discarded robes to join Sirius and Peter for a swim in the lake, Lily found her perfect opportunity to strike. 

She snuck behind bushes and trees, jittery nerves mixing with the boiling anger, careful to avoid the eye lines of the boys splashing around in the water. The Snitch continued to catch light from its spot underneath the boy’s tree, encouraging her on as she stepped closer. She leaned up against the tree trunk, so near now, she could see the intricate detailing on the Snitch’s shiny exterior. As she watched Sirius dunk James’ head underwater, she knew there wouldn’t be a better opportunity. She reached out her hand, felt the cool metal on the tips of her fingers-

“Are you trying to steal that?”

Lily’s heart flew through her chest as she jumped back, nearly tripping over herself. Remus Lupin was watching her, an amused laugh playing on his lips.

“I- er- I was just,” Lily stammered, her brain going blank under the shock of being caught red-handed. Her eyes shot to the lake, but to her relief, the boys in the water seemed to have taken no notice of the events on land. “I didn’t realize you were sitting there.”

“So you were trying to steal it- the Snitch I mean,” said Remus with a smirk. 

Lily could feel the heat spreading on her cheeks, utterly humiliated from being caught by her fellow Prefect. She looked away, unable to meet Remus’ eyes. He had been the one sixth year Gryffindor boy she actually enjoyed spending time with. He probably hated her now and she cursed herself for being so petty and dead-set on revenge. 

“You realize he would just steal it back, right?” When Lily looked up, Remus was wearing a friendly smile, his brows quirked as if he were hinting at the answer to a particularly tricky Transfiguration question on the O.W.L.s.

“Steal it… back?” she said, not having thought that far ahead in her plan.

Remus shrugged. “Yeah. The kid’s a whizz at _Accio,_ he’d have that Snitch back before dinner. If you want to take it from him and keep it, you’re going to have to earn it.”

Lily scoffed. “Earn it? I don’t need to earn anything from _him._ ”

“Suit yourself,” said Lupin, turning back to his book, “you can grab his Snitch now, but James can't respect a sneak. If you’re trying to push his buttons, do you know what will really rile him up?”

“What.”

“If you take it from right under his nose.” 

She stared at the quiet Snitch for a moment of consideration, then back at Remus. 

“That’s not a bad idea, Lupin,” she said, the gears in her head turning.

“I know,” he said, glancing up at her from behind his book. “Hey, Evans, I’m sorry about Snape.”

She pressed her lips together in a fine line as her heart panged at the sound of his name. “Thanks,” she said with a curt nod before casting a quick Disillusionment Charm on herself and heading back to the castle. She had some training to do.

Lily gave herself three days to perfect her hand-eye coordination. Mary looked at her as if she were a lunatic when she requested her friend spend hours one evening throwing balled up pieces of parchment across their dorm for Lily to practice catching. Marlene couldn’t figure out why Lily had suddenly decided to take up juggling. And most of the Gryffindors looked on with curiosity as she trained her owl to throw tiny packages from higher and higher distances. Only Remus Lupin watched her hone her new skills with a knowing smile.

And then finally, on the last day of school, as all the students made their way to Hogsmead station, Lily was ready.

She let her anger heat to a boil as she thought of every stupid thing James Potter had said to her. Every time she had been stuck on the wrong side of his pranks. The countless times he had mocked Severus in front of her. Each time she had caught him staring at her from across the classroom, only to hide behind his hands as he frantically ruffled his hair. 

He was ruffling his hair as Lily walked directly up to James and his friends, a blazing look of revenge in her eye. The glittering Snitch zipped around his head, never an arm's length away. 

James’ eyes widened as Lily approached, caught off guard by her determined stare. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, his face flushing slightly. A second hand joined his first in his hair, giving Lily the perfect opportunity to reach out and effortlessly grab the Snitch right out of the air, directly in front of his face.

He gasped. Every student surrounding them gasped. Even Lily gasped as she felt the cool metal vibrating in her hand, settled in her palm.

As she watched James’ shock play out over his face, she felt a deep sense of satisfaction at throwing him off his guard in front of the entire school. Mission Accomplished.

“I’m taking this,” she said, giving herself only a brief moment to shoot Remus a cheeky smirk. He beamed back in return. James continued to gape at her, his eyes turning to stars. She quickly pocketed the Snitch and gave him a shrug before turning on her heel to find her compartment on the train, a little bit of anger dissipating. For now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> You can find me on tumblr and send me more National Treasure themed asks @the-dream-team :)


	4. In another life… I arranged a number of operations of… questionable legality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to @majormaybe1 for this wonderful prompt!!
> 
> Here's a little one-shot about a young, mischievous James :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be the silliest thing I've ever written. I hope you enjoy!

James Potter had always been a menace. 

The vendors who set up their stands in Godric Hallow’s town square knew to be wary of the young boy, whose messy black mop of hair was just visible over their countertops as he skipped from booth to booth. No one was certain where he came from or where his parents might be (though Marcus, the apple harvester, swore he once saw the kid just over the hill with an unexpectedly kind older couple), but everyone knew trouble followed the boy like an obedient puppy. 

It started with the usual childhood mischief. He would show up at the farmer’s market, seemingly out of nowhere, wielding twigs from a nearby tree or sometimes a cardboard sword. Always battling an imaginary enemy. Large bursts of energy mixed with childish incoordination would result in smashed crates of potatoes or torn awnings. Farmers turned red with frustration, but their wives brushed them off, absolutely charmed by those big hazel eyes behind even bigger wire-rimmed glasses. The boy would wreak havoc and get off without so much as a loving pinch on the cheek. 

But then one summer, once his glasses started fitting his face and those wide eyes became more calculating, the real hijinks began. Peculiar things seemed to happen whenever the young boy made his way to the square. Marty’s carrots would suddenly appear on Andrew’s cabbage display, as if out of thin air. Abigail's piglet disappeared, then reappeared again, squealing up a storm, in Michael’s barrel of beans. Oddities popped up left and right around the child, still too small to reach the booth’s counters without having to balance on his tiptoes. The vendors groveled and knit their brows into headaches, but the boy would flash his little grin and the wives would fawn, offering up samples of their best honey or slices of freshly baked bread. 

Eventually, the farmers settled into their new routine of expecting the unexpected. Until one day, when the unexpected turned into the unbelievable. 

The boy was making his rounds one sunny morning, peering over the fruits and vegetables, when Helga offered him a strawberry. He beamed, reached out for the piece of fruit, and then yelped when the berry burst from his hand, transforming into a flittering hummingbird. 

Those wide eyes turned to saucers as he watched the bird fly off, leaving its strawberry brothers behind in their basket. The look he flashed at the berry farmer was one of deep disturbance and the boy disappeared on the spot, leaving the rest of the vendors to grapple with what should have been impossible. 

They didn’t see the boy for days, and the farmers would have reveled in the much-desired calm, but the mystery behind the hummingbird still sat fresh in their memories. But then one morning, the vendors all held a collective breath as the little boy marched down the street, directly to the town square, with a little jingling satchel in hand. 

He went straight to the strawberry stand, meeting Helga with a determined stare and a gold coin in his outstretched hand. She tentatively accepted the strange looking currency and nervously handed over a basket of berries, flinching as he reached out to collect his purchase. 

The boy looked at his basket, then back to Helga, and grabbed a handful of strawberries. Just like before, the berries erupted into delicate little hummingbirds and flew off through the village. The boy puffed his chest out at his accomplishment and his eyes surveyed the other booths, looking for his next victim. 

The farmers were in a state of shock. Possibly a shared psychosis that could only be explained by spending a little too much time under the summer sun. They waited patiently as the boy decided who would receive his next gold coin. 

It ended up being Daniel, the cabbage farmer, who watched in awe as his heads of lettuce transformed into a swarm of skittish squirrels with just a light touch of the young boy’s hand. 

One by one, the strange little boy purchased, transformed, and set free an entire zoo’s worth of animals. More than one weary eye drifted to the town’s church lingering above them, wondering what kind of miracle or devil’s work they might be witnessing.

And then, he left, a litter of kittens and rabbits following in his wake. 

Four years later, the boy with messy hair and glasses (that definitely now fit his face) sat in the Hogwarts dungeons with three other boys, cleaning out cauldrons.

“Bloody infuriating that they took our wands, don’t you think, James?” said the boy with longer hair and sharp features. He lazily scrubbed the same spot on his cauldron over and over, even though it had become clean ages ago.

“Don’t be daft, Sirius,” said James, pushing his glasses up his nose with the back of his hand. “We aren’t allowed our wands in detention, otherwise we’d have this washing done in a minute.”

“My mum says doing things the Muggle way builds character,” added the third boy, tucking his sandy bangs behind his ears.

“Well Remus,” responded the fourth boy with watery eyes, “the rest of us grew up not ever having to do it the Muggle way. Maybe since you’re most used to it, you can take care of the rest of these cauldrons for us.”

“Bugger off, Peter,” said Remus, throwing a very dirty washcloth and hitting Peter square in the face.

The four boys laughed together before getting back to their scrubbing. 

“Oh, look who it is,” came a sneering voice from the doorway of the Potions classroom. “Potter and his gang of cowardly lions. What is this, the third detention you lot have had this week?”

“Shove off, Snivellus,” spat Sirius, throwing up a few choice fingers at the greasy-haired boy. 

“Come on, Sev, don’t bother with them,” came a softer voice from behind the boy. 

“Is that Evans?” called James, his interest piquing. He ran his hand through his hair, forgetting how much grime had coated his fingers during the course of the detention. When the red head girl peaked out behind her friend to see James picking out dirt from his fringe, she giggled.

“Potter, it looks like you’ve been rolling around in the mud with Hagrid’s pigs,” she said with a teasing grin. Severus shifted next to her, his eyes flashing at her playful tone.

“That might be so,” laughed James with his signature lopsided smile, “but at least I’m still not half as greasy as Snivellus, here.”

Severus turned bright red and reached into his robe pocket to draw his wand. “Lutum!” he shouted, and a thick layer of dirt coated the piles of freshly cleaned cauldrons. 

The boys jumped up in outrage, but Severus had a wand and they were defenseless. 

“This is bollocks!” barked Sirius, a dangerous shadow crossing his face.

“Tough luck,” smirked Severus, turning back to Evans with a smug look across his face. “Come on, Lily, let’s go practice our Pepper Up potions.” And with one last smarmy look, he led her into another classroom across the hallway.

“That’s not fair,” whined Peter, looking at his now-dirty cauldron.

James still stared at the doorway where Severus and Evans stood just a moment before. “Well, we’re not going to let him get away with that.”

“But we don’t have our wands,” pointed out Remus, who had gone back to patiently scrubbing his own cauldron.

“I have a plan,” said James simply.

“Mate, I think Remus has a point,” Sirius said with a huff. “What could you possibly do to Snape? We’re just a bunch of wandless first years.” 

“Look boys,” said James confidently, “In another life… I arranged a number of operations of… questionable legality. I learned some skills back then that may prove useful in our current hour of need.”

Sirius, Remus, and Peter stared at him, matching dumbfounded expressions on their faces.

James stood and surveyed the dirty cauldrons around him and looked at his hands. He took a deep breath. 

In theory, he knew what he had to do. It was just a matter of concentrating. Focusing on a goal and letting the magic burst through his fingers. There weren’t any fruits or vegetables in the dungeons, but that shouldn’t matter. Maybe when James was younger, when his imagination ran a little wilder and his grasp on transfiguration wasn’t quite as strong, he believed that animals were stuck inside strawberries and ears of corn. But James was a wizard in training now. With a few months of transfiguration under his belt, he knew that any object could become anything new.

So he paced back and forth, letting himself fall back into the mindset of being a little boy sneaking out of his family’s cottage while his parents were busy reading that morning’s copy of the Daily Prophet. He remembered the thrill of running off to the village, just as independent as any other adult visiting the market, and marching up to the stalls of fruits and vegetables and honey. He could almost smell the freshly baked bread, see the kind smiles of the farmers’ wives as they ruffled his hair and sent him off with fresh apples and oatmeal cookies.

He let himself live in those not-so-distant memories and channeled all their warmth to his fingertips as he reached out and touched the nearest cauldron.

With a flash, it became a potbelly pig.

“Bloody hell!” shouted Peter.

“Merlin’s beard!” laughed Sirius.

“Holy shit,” gasped Remus.

James sent them a crooked smile, cracked his knuckles, and swiftly got to work touching every dirty cauldron in the dungeon. 

The piglets squeaked with wild energy, dripping in mud and looking for somewhere to run. And James had just the place. 

He led his parade of piglets through the classroom, out the hallway, and opened up the door across the way where Severus and Evans had gone to practice their potion-making. The pigs stormed into the room with excited squeals which only intensified by Lily’s and Severus’ screaming as the pigs swarmed them.

“Sorry Evans,” shouted James over the sea of oinking, “you’re collateral damage here! My apologies for the smell, but I assume you’re used to a bit of stench hanging out with Snivellus all day!”

Once all the pigs had crammed into the classroom, trapping Lily and Severus in the far corner surrounded by muddy hogs, James quickly closed the door and the rest of the boys helped drag over a heavy bookshelf to barricade the entryway.

They grinned at each other, quite pleased by their success, and made their way back to the scrubbing brushes and washcloths.

“Well boys,” said James, his hand finding his way back to his hair, “I don’t see any more dirty cauldrons, do you?”

The others shook their heads in glee.

“Then I guess it’s back to Gryffindor Tower for us!”

And with that, they raced out of the dungeons, snickering at the shouts of their classmates, overpowered by the squealing of dozens of potbelly pigs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! 
> 
> Come hang out or drop me more National Treasure prompts on tumblr @the-dream-team :)
> 
> I'm still working through an inbox full of them, but the more the merrier <3


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